Klaus Schulze - Mirage
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Free Music Notes for Mirage
Free Music Review: Track 1: Different Mix!
Hit: 5 Stars
Everybody has described this magnificent album, but nobody pointed out an important detail:
I.
The first track Velvet Voyage is a different mix than the original version! The original is even more desolate, oppressive, and wintery. Like a real white-out. There's even a few faint sounds of vocoder during the intro, giving the music an alien beginning.
This new mix is - as far as Velvet Voyage goes - a more lively version, different sounds appear more clearly, specially after the 13 minute mark. The new mix of Velvet Voyage made it closer to Crystal Lake than the original was.
So one could say that while the original Velvet Voyage is a real white-out, an oppressive Antarctic blizzard, this new version is like an Icelandic winter landscape. There are more colours and sounds.
I'm not sure, but I think I prefer the original version of the album. It's a shame I sold it before buying the new version. Now I want it back.
II.
Track 2, Crystal Lake, seems to have been left untouched. Sound quality does seem to have improved, which is very welcome considering Mirage is one of Schulze's most perfect masterpieces.
III.
The bonus track doesn't add anything new to the album. It's just OK. The same can be said about many bonus tracks in these Schulze re-releases. So if you are considering buying one of these new editions and you already have the old version, make sure you won't regret spending the extra cash.
Timewind for example is good, the sound quality improves noticeably, but the extra CD didn't do much for me; it's pretty much just more of the same, like the Mirage bonus. An ideal bonus for Timewind would be the genius live performance that came as a misplaced bonus in the new edition of Cyborg.
Free Music Review: stunningly beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
When I first heard this it profoundly affected me.The pure, blue, cold crystalline purity of this movement,is perfect in every way - the timbres, the ambience, the seemingly infinite scope of this music, all these make this cd mesmerising. This was the absolute peak of his career,
the closest Schulze ever got to this perfect place again, was with the
double CD X. Klaus is the absolute undisputed master of Berlin Electronic
Music and music like this is the reason. a masterpiece.
Free Music Review: Cold, terrifying and yet, ever so beautiful
Hit: 5 Stars
1977 was a busy year for Klaus Schulze. I know he's been touring constantly, as he always does, but he sure spent a lot of time in the recording studio. He must of have a whirlwind of ideas in his head because he was so inventive for new sounds back then.
He did two albums for a porn movie called "Body Love". I'm sure that's something to be proud of, and I can understand it too. Believe it or not, Klaus Schulze's music is great background music for large living room orgies. In fact, try "Timewind" when you plan a big get together with your friends and spouses.
But his most cherishable work he's done in 1977 was this album called "Mirage". All of Klaus Schulze's earlier albums offer a dark and moody soundscape but this album can actually make you feel cold and desolate. The mental picture I get with this music when I close my eyes is a blinding white visual instead of the opposite, the warmth of darkness.
I've only learned of this album about 3 years ago. I had no idea it was going to be as good as it is. The appeal of Klaus Schulze albums are a series of "hits and misses" for me. My favorite albums of his are "Irrlicht", "Cyborg", "Timewind", "Dig It", and of course, this album.
"Picture Music" doesn't do much for me. Nor does "Moondawn". And of course, everything he's done during the eighties and beyond just seems way to simplistic and modern day electronic. Lots of artists were doing music like his, so he was no longer the innovator of dark ambient music that he once was. Somehow, the analog approach to sound was just so much more appealing back in the seventies. This happened to Tangerine Dream too. Their albums "Alpha Centauri", "Green Desert", "Phaedra", "Rubycon", "Encore", "Force Majeure", "Logos", "Hyperborea" and "White Eagle" all had these great album long, dark and moody, instrumentation that we Klaus Schulze fans have come to expect from these innovators. It's seems like electronic instrumentation just lost its unique appeal once everybody started using it.
If you like Klaus Schulze, then please check out Jean Michel Jarre. Start with his first three albums starting in 1976 with "Oxygene", then "Equinoxe" and then "Magnetic Fields". "Chronolgie" (from 1992) is pretty good too.
Free Music Review: A brooding release that is somewhat similar to Timewind
Hit: 5 Stars
This 1977 album showed Klaus moving away from the drum accompaniment heard on albums like Moondawn (1976) and back to a purely synthesizer based approach and as such, Mirage sounds somewhat similar to classic examples of electronica like Timewind (1975). According to interviews with Klaus (that have been reprinted in the liner notes) he wanted to create an "electronic winter landscape". Furthermore, the liner notes go on to indicate that Klaus had just experienced personal loss and this sadness (and loneliness I suppose) is reflected in this moody recording.
With respect to the instrumentation, Klaus uses layers and layers of synthesizers and a complete listing is provided in the liner notes - apparently a friend of his was very interested and Klaus listed every piece of equipment (including the components of his PA system!). In that I too share a fascination with analog synthesizers from the 1970s, here is an abbreviated list of the dominant synths used on Mirage: ARP 2600, ARP Odyssey, Mini-moog, Micro-moog, Polymoog (a polyphonic synth), EMS Synthi "A", and Farfisa string orchestra. The sounds that Klaus gets are very natural sounding and he emphasizes sustained tones, with very little in the way of sudden changes in dynamics. In short, he creates a very spacey, drifting wall of sound that conjures up the cold vacuum of outer space. The music is also very meditative too, which is just as attributable to the droning synthesizers as the sheer length of each piece (Velvet Voyage = 28'16" and Crystal Lake = 29'15").
This remastered album by Revisited records (part of the InsideOut label) is of very high quality and features crystal-clear sound, restored cover art, loads of informative liner notes, and photos of Klaus. The bonus track In Cosa Crede chi non Crede? (19'39") is superb and fits in very well with the original pieces.
All in all, this is another excellent album by Klaus. Mirage is very highly recommended along with the similar Timewind (1975). For those of you that like the drum accompaniment, listen to Moondawn and Body Love. The album X (1978) is also worth adding to your Klaus Schulze collection.
Free Music Review: The light from deep darkness
Hit: 5 Stars
As KS said:"music is a dream without isolation of sleep" His music is to make the listener powerful and happy ,and also guide them to being aware of emotion. With KS music we are able to experience one of the fineness form of sound,and if I want to point out his best album ,I introduce you to Mirage.